cPanel - SSH Access

SSH access is available on our Plus, Elite, Agency and Advanced cPanel Shared Hosting packages.

For security reasons, SSH access is not enabled automatically. If you require SSH access, please contact our Support team through Live Chat or a Support Ticket and tell us which hosting package/domain you require SSH access for.

Our Support team will explain the conditions of using SSH on Shared Hosting and arrange for the request to be reviewed.

What type of SSH access is provided?
SSH access on our Shared Hosting platform is provided using a Jailed Shell.

A Jailed Shell gives you command-line access to your hosting environment while restricting access to areas of the server that are not part of your account.

This is important because Shared Hosting servers contain multiple independent customer accounts. The jailed environment provides the command-line functionality required for normal website and development tasks while maintaining appropriate separation between accounts.

SSH access does not provide root or sudo privileges and does not give you administrative access to the server.

Important conditions of SSH access

SSH remains part of a Shared Hosting service. Enabling SSH does not provide the functionality or resource allowances of a VPS or Dedicated Server.

When requesting SSH access, you agree that:

• SSH will only be used for legitimate activities relating to your own hosting account.
• You will not attempt to access other customers' accounts, restricted server areas or server-level configuration.
• You will not attempt to bypass security controls or restrictions applied to the Shared Hosting platform.
• SSH must not be used to run malicious software, scanning tools, cryptocurrency mining, abusive automation or other prohibited activity.
• Long-running or resource-intensive processes must not adversely affect the shared platform or other customers.
• Existing Shared Hosting resource limits and our applicable Terms and Acceptable Use requirements continue to apply.
• SSH access may be restricted or withdrawn if it is abused, creates a security risk, causes excessive resource usage or adversely affects the Shared Hosting platform.

If your application requires unrestricted shell access, root privileges, custom system packages, persistent background services or greater control over the operating system, a VPS or Dedicated Server may be more appropriate.

How do I request SSH access?

Please contact Heart Internet Support through Live Chat or a Support Ticket.

Provide:
The domain/hosting package requiring SSH access and a brief description of what you intend to use SSH for.

Our Support team will explain the conditions above and, once these have been accepted, arrange for your request to be reviewed.

Please note that SSH access is not active until Support confirms that it has been enabled.

Using SSH after it has been enabled

Once Support confirms that SSH has been enabled, you can use the SSH functionality available within your cPanel account.

Using Terminal directly from cPanel

Log in to your cPanel account and locate:
Advanced → Terminal
Open Terminal.

On your first visit, cPanel may display a warning explaining that command-line access should only be used if you understand the commands you are entering. Accept the warning to continue.

You will then receive a terminal session directly within your browser.

There is no need to configure a separate SSH application when using the cPanel Terminal.

Connecting from your computer

You can also connect using an SSH client on your computer. You will require your:
Server hostname
cPanel username
Authentication credentials

For example:
ssh username@server-hostname

Setting up an SSH key in cPanel
For regular SSH access, you can use SSH key authentication where supported.

Log in to cPanel and navigate to:
Security → SSH Access → Manage SSH Keys

You can then either select:
Generate a New Key
to create a new key pair, or:

Import Key
if you already have an SSH key.

After adding the public key, locate it under Public Keys, select Manage, and then select Authorize.

A key must be authorised before it can be used to authenticate to the account.

Your private key must remain private. Never send your private SSH key to Heart Internet Support or another third party.
Full instructions for managing SSH keys are available in cPanel's SSH Access documentation.

Step-by-Step: Connecting From Your Computer Using Windows PowerShell (With SSH Keys)
Once you have generated and Authorized your key inside cPanel using the steps above, follow these exact instructions to configure and establish your connection using Windows PowerShell or Mac Command Line.

FOR WINDOWS POWERSHELL

Download your Private Key from cPanel

1. Log in to cPanel and navigate to: Security → SSH Access → Manage SSH Keys.
2. Scroll down to the Private Keys section. Find your authorized key and click View/Download.
3. Do not convert the key to PPK format (PPK format is exclusively for PuTTY). Scroll past the conversion options to the raw key text.
4. Click the Download Key button to download the private key file (typically named id_rsa or similar) directly to your computer.

Move and Secure your Private Key in PowerShell

For safety and security, Windows requires your private key to be placed in your user account's hidden .ssh directory and protected from access by other computer profiles.

1. Open Windows PowerShell on your computer.

2.Create your local .ssh directory if it does not already exist by running this command:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$HOME\.ssh"

3. Move the downloaded key file from your Downloads folder into that .ssh directory:

Move-Item -Path "$HOME\Downloads\id_rsa" -Destination "$HOME\.ssh\id_rsa" -Force

4. Update the security permissions of the file so that only your Windows account can read it. Run this commands block directly in PowerShell to restrict access:

$path = "$HOME\.ssh\id_rsa"
ICACLS $path /inheritance:r
ICACLS $path /grant:r "${env:USERNAME}:(R,W)"

Connect to the Server via PowerShell
Now that your key is securely placed and locked down, you can connect to your Heart Internet cPanel account.
1. Execute the following command in PowerShell, replacing the placeholders with your actual details:

ssh -i "$HOME\.ssh\id_rsa" username@server-hostname

FOR MAC DEVICES
Move and Secure your Private Key in Terminal
macOS enforces strict file permission standards for security keys. If a private key file is accessible by other profiles or processes on your computer, the system will reject the connection attempt.
1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac (press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, and press Enter).
2. Create your local hidden SSH directory if it does not already exist by running:

mkdir -p ~/.ssh

3. Move the downloaded key file from your Downloads directory into your hidden SSH folder:

mv ~/Downloads/id_rsa ~/.ssh/id_rsa

4. Modify the file permissions so that only your profile can read the file. Lock down the key by running:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Connect to the Server via macOS Terminal
Now that your private key file has been safely moved and secured, you are ready to connect to your Heart Internet cPanel account.
1. Execute the following command in Terminal, replacing the placeholders with your actual hosting details:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa username@server-hostname -p port_number

(Note: Replace username with your cPanel username, server-hostname with your server hostname, and port_number with your assigned SSH port number. If your specific package uses the standard default port 22, you can remove the -p port_number flag entirely).

2. If this is your first time connecting to this specific server, Terminal will display a warning: The authenticity of host... can't be established. Type yes and press Enter to save the host footprint.

3. When prompted, type the passphrase
you originally assigned to the key during creation inside cPanel. You will then be granted access to your Jailed Shell environment.

Using SSH Responsibly
SSH gives you direct command-line access to your hosting account. Commands can modify or permanently delete website files and other data.
We strongly recommend maintaining a current backup before performing significant command-line changes.
Heart Internet Support can assist with access-related issues, but enabling SSH does not include management of custom scripts, commands, applications or development work performed through your shell.